reading – Tiffany Shearn

What Should I Read Next?

I miss reading books that capture the imagination and draw you into the story from beginning to end. Due to the nature of my current occupation overwhelming my mental capacity, it is easier to lose focus on the books I’m reading. Over the last two years, I’ve probably only read about half of what I used to go through annually on top of my writing. However, this is not only due to my work.

Several of the bigger authors I read seemed to have written their longer-running series into a corner. The main characters encountered challenges that could only be faced by taking on a curse or something similar, so the most recent books in the series revolved around some obscure deus ex machina necessary to escape the impossible circumstances in which they found themselves. While the stories might have been good enough and well-written, beloved side characters were left out, and the climax felt…rote.

One of my “comfort reads” authors is taking a couple of years off, and another main author is not revisiting the genres I read for another year or two. The result of all these shifts has left me with a lack of reading material to hold my interest. This is not to say I lack reading material at all, but the quantity of what I’m looking for is not as easy for me to find.

Help!

What I need now, are some recommendations! Here are some of my favorite genres:

YA or cozy romance (no – low spice)
Urban fantasy (any spice, but story-focused)
High fantasy (love creative worlds and magic systems)
Murder mystery/crime (interesting main characters)
Sci-fi (with a splash of the fantastical)

Throw me your recommendations, especially if they are newer or lesser-known authors!

Back to Reading

Last year, I read over a book a week, and this year, I’m closer to about one a month. Since reading is one of my relaxation habits, the lack has potentially contributed to my stress levels. That clearly means I need to invest more time delving into my various fantasy worlds.

One of my go-to authors when feeling down is K. M. Shea. She writes primarily clean, YA fantasy romance. Her stories are fun, humorous, and generally uplifting, which is a welcome break from the stress of everyday life. I’ll probably start with rereading one of her series, but I’m always looking for recommendations.

What are some of your comfort reads and why?

Bionic Font

I see this new Bionic Reading font popping up on my social media accounts lately. It is the one that bolds portions of many words in a way intended to help guide the reader’s brain through the text and provide a means of faster, in-depth reading comprehension.

“What do we want? With Bionic Reading, we aim to promote reading and comprehension of textual content in a hectic and noisy world.”
bionic-reading.com

This article on uxdesign takes a look at it and the recent reaction on Twitter. It also has a couple of comparisons between “regular” font and the bionic reading conversion.

I like the text and think it speeds up my ability to read and retain the information I have read. Reading is one of my main hobbies, and I read a lot. Not the 100+ books a year I have seen some folks claim, but I think my annual book count is up there. This means I can already read relatively quickly with comprehension. It felt like the font smoothed this out for me, as though it built a road between reading and processing.

With that said, I would be hesitant to jump into an entire book in this font just yet. If I read for an hour, does it tire my eyes faster? Would it give me headaches? Would that road it creates decrease eye/brain strain over time? I do not know and have not taken the time to test this myself, but I am intrigued.

Check out the links and share your thoughts. Do you like it? What would you think about this font in your next eBook?